


The Lady of the House

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Pre-Sburb/Sgrub
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-04
Updated: 2012-04-04
Packaged: 2017-11-03 01:29:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/375567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A girl’s gotta grow up some time. She’s not a baby anymore, and she can handle being by herself for one night. Right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lady of the House

Yes, Mother, I’ll be fine.

No, Mother, you don’t need to call a sitter.

Yes, Mother, I’ll be in bed by nine.

Goodbye, Mother.

Just like that, and the house is your domain—for the most part. Certain rooms are just as locked as they are when your mother is home and watching over you. It isn’t as if that is a thing that would stop happening the moment your mother set foot outside.

It takes only a few minutes of wandering through the quiet, empty building for you to begin wondering why this is such a big deal. It’s the same old house it’s always been. There’s just one less person in it.

A girl can only jump on her bed for a few times before realizing it’s an incredibly silly  demonstration of independence and, as her mother has told her, she is likely to get herself hurt. Likewise, watching whatever you want on T.V. loses much of its allure when you realize the “grown-up shows” your mother wouldn’t let you watch aren’t all that interesting or entertaining.

…

Well, this is certainly a disappointment.

When is your mother coming home?

Not until after nine, surely, and you’re supposed to be in bed by then.

You indulge in a curse word you wouldn’t have been allowed to say were your mother in the house. There. There’s one perk among the myriad disappointments.

You are incredibly bored.

It is possible that you might be feeling lonely.

Really lonely.

You like to think you’re pretty mature for your age. You can admit things to yourself that you might not want to.

Your mom has been gone for two hours and you miss her. Two more hours until your bedtime.

You watch some DVDs, you clean up a little, you eat a microwaved dinner, and you take a bath. Eight-thirty. Close enough. She should be home when you wake up.

You can’t sleep. You watch your clock as the minutes tick by and you lie in bed completely awake. You have school tomorrow and you need to sleep, but sleep won’t come. A tiny epiphany occurs to you:

You don’t want to be a big girl yet. You don’t want the house to yourself. You want your mother.

In the deep dark quiet of eleven-thirty you hear the front door creak open. She’s home—you can sleep now.

Or at least pretend to be sleeping when your bedroom door opens, and continue to pretend when your mother sits down on the edge of your bed, and continue to pretend when a hand strokes your hair gently—and completely give up the act when she says, “I’m home, Rose.” and you cling tightly to her and let her rock you and whisper to you until you finally drift into real sleep.

Maybe it’s okay if she still treats you like a child every once and a while. You think you’ll let her be the only grown-up in the house for a little while longer.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic can also be found here: http://whatevertheheckles.tumblr.com/post/18907269273/the-lady-of-the-house-for-octoshrimp


End file.
